Grow (1970) by Linda Brewer.Via.
• The week in work-related reviews: Raymond Tyler reviewed the Bumper Book of Magic at Religious Socialism, while James Palmer did the same at Foreign Policy. Meanwhile, Rob Latham at the Los Angeles Review of Books examined the legacy of the New Wave of science fiction with reviews of New Worlds 224, and The Last Dangerous Visions, Harlan Ellison’s long-delayed story collection.
• “Incline Press is a private fine press publisher in the UK, stubbornly printing with hand set, metal type on a collection of vintage machines, working with poets and artists to make limited edition books and ephemera.”
• New music: Horses In Your Blood, another dose of unhinged weirdness from Moon Wiring Club; The Source by Jon Palmer; and Ekkorääg by Tarotplane.
• At Dennis Cooper’s: Spotlight on…Rikki Ducornet The Fan-Maker’s Inquisition: A Novel of the Marquis de Sade (1999).
• At Smithsonian Magazine: “Rare atlas of astronomy from the Dutch Golden Age goes on display in England“.
• Old music: Jon Savage’s Space, a space-themed compilation on Caroline True Records.
• At The Daily Heller: Berman’s Book Boom is a boon to graphic design’s legacy.
• At Public Domain Review: Christoph Jamnitzer’s Neuw Grotteßken Buch (1610).
• Mix of the week: A Dungeon Synth mix by Flickers From The Fen for The Wire.
• At Heavy Metal Magazine: The HP Lovecraft Art of John Holmes.
• At The Quietus: The Strange World of…Laurie Anderson.
• I Can Hear The Grass Grow (1967) by The Move | Grow Fins (1972) by Captain Beefheart | The Growing (2011) by The Haxan Cloak
It might have been better never to have published <The Last Dangerous Visions. How could the reality of it ever match the idea of it? So Ellison thought what he was doing was important. Other people did too. I got Deathbird Stories and <Strange Wine right between the eyes in a period of less than six months. The important thing is that the Ellison estate also has out a best-of collection to showcase his own work. I can’t really be objective. Like Stapledon said of Wells, it was the air I breathed.
Yes, from the sound of that review it would have been better to bury the book with Harlan. You can’t update the thing and expect it to work the way it did. Taboos don’t disappear, they migrate, so what was taboo in one sphere no longer applies 50 years down the line. And since the knives always come out on the internet any time someone mentions Harlan’s name this only offers more reasons for people to have a go at his reputation.